A daredevil British influencer has died after falling from Spain’s highest bridge.
The 26-year digital creator is said to have plunged from the 630ft Castilla-La Mancha bridge in Talavera de la Reina a 90-minute drive south-west of Madrid early this morning over the Tagus River as he climbed it to film a social media stunt.
Local councillor Macarena Munoz confirmed the tragedy today as she said accessing the bridge was ‘totally banned’.
She added: ‘We have made it clear on several occasions that it’s not something that can be done in any circumstances.’
The unnamed British man is said to have been with a compatriot aged 24 when he plunged to his death.
Footage from the scene of the tragedy showed police cordoning off the area near to where he fell.
Talavera de la Reina Town Council confirmed in a statement: ‘The Councillor for Citizen Security, Macarena Munoz, has confirmed the death of a young man after he fell from the Castilla-La Mancha bridge.
‘He was a 26-year-old Englishman who fell while climbing the aforementioned bridge, something which the councillor has made clear is totally prohibited and that we have reiterated on numerous occasions cannot be done under any circumstances.’
‘The young man was accompanied by another 24-year-old Englishman.
‘According to what we have been able to establish they had come to Talavera to climb the bridge and create content for social media, which has resulted in this unfortunate and sad outcome.’
‘The judge and the forensic doctor have already authorised the removal of the body, which has been transferred to the funeral parlour.’
A post-mortem is yet to take place.
Today’s tragedy happened around 7.15am.
National Police as well as local town-hall employed firefighters rushed to the scene with paramedics but there was nothing they could to save the Brit.
The bridge where the incident occurred is the second-highest in Europe as well as being the highest in Spain.
A spokesman for a regional government-run emergency coordination centre confirmed: ‘We received the first call at 7.14am today, saying a young man had fallen while he was climbing the Castilla-La Mancha Bridge.
‘The victim, who was aged 26, was pronounced dead at the scene.’
National Police, local police, firefighters from Talavera de la Reina and an emergency ambulance was sent to the scene but there was nothing any of the emergency responders could do to save him.
The bridge is a cable-stayed bridge featuring 152 wire ropes which was opened on October 17 2011 and cost nearly 74 million euros to build.
It was widely considered a waste of money by local and national media when it was built and as it carried little traffic was often referred to as the ‘bridge to nowhere.’
A year ago local police reported two young bloggers who climbed it without any protection and then posted videos on their social media.
In 2016 two youngsters were reported for the same stunt.It is not known how far up the structure the Brit was when he fell.